


morning in yellows

by irritable



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, lazy morning fluff. that's literally all it fuckin is!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 08:09:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12700866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irritable/pseuds/irritable
Summary: Chloe's learned to love the calm as much as she does the storm that inevitably comes afterwards.





	morning in yellows

**Author's Note:**

> me, writing this in my notes app at 1 in the morning in total darkness,

She wakes in a soft yellow glow. It pools around her in wavy baths of light as the curtain flutters to-and-from the open window. They'd opened it last night to air out the room and must have forgotten to close it, too wrapped up in each other.

They don't have much on them right now, and they've shown time and time again that they can both handle themselves in a fight, so Chloe doesn't worry too much.

An arm is draped over Chloe's middle, hooked around her ribcage, making it virtually impossible for Chloe to wiggle away unnoticed. It's too early for Chloe's limbs to work correctly and, as Nadine's said herself, she's all muscle, making it that much harder for Chloe to muster the strength to lift the beefy arm off.

It's fine; she doesn't want to move anyway.

Nadine's lying on her front, Chloe's left arm stuck in the space between the pillow and Nadine's neck, and her head is turned to face her. Curling into Nadine a little more, she uses her only free hand to brush a frizz off Nadine's forehead.

They're older now. Chloe doesn't like to think about it, but they're approaching their forties. Plenty of times throughout her life, she'd thought she wouldn't even make it to thirty, yet here she was. Take that, laws of physics.

Nadine's got crinkles in the corner of her eyes now and a thin scar about half the length of Chloe's pinky at the crown of her head. Oh, Chloe will always remember that one.

Nadine, ever the martyr, had taken quite the fall while shoving Chloe out of the path of a very angry looking truck. Afterwards, with Nadine's hands on her knees and blood gushing down her face, Chloe had tossed the stupid golden egg on the ground and gave Nadine approximately half a second to heave in a breath. Then, she'd seized her by the face, pushed her into the bark of a tree, and kissed her senseless.

That's a good memory. She lays her hand on Nadine's back, fingers tracing the dips between shoulder blades and muscles, around scarred skin and over spots of moles.

Nadine's not snoring the way she usually does, so Chloe grins, slips her wandering hand onto Nadine's lower back, and shuffles even closer into Nadine's space, nuzzling a nose into the side of her shoulder.

"Exploring already?" her voice is rougher than usual, heavy from sleep, but expected and familiar. Nadine's eyes blink open, probably a little bleary still, and a smile twitches at her lips.

"Hm, you know me," Chloe drawls, pressing a chaste kiss to Nadine's freckled shoulder. "Dedicated to the trade, I am. I just can’t seem to catch a break."

Nadine snorts. "No rest for the wicked, eh."

There's a gust of wind, flapping the curtains open, and Nadine is _radiant_ in the morning sun.

Outside, there's the sound of engines and vendors getting ready for the day. It's an idyllic moment of peace, and Chloe's perfectly content spending it on just staring at Nadine.

They're staying somewhere on the outskirts of Vredenburg, in a cheap motel connected to a home owned business.

This time, there's no lost treasure to pursue. It's just them, passing the time. The strange gaps of quiet between breakneck adventures is something Chloe’s learned to appreciate.

They’re usually occupied by leisure traveling or visiting friends (mostly Chloe's) and family (usually Nadine's).

Earlier the same month, they'd spent a week with Nadine's parents on their estate. It's been almost four years since she walked away from Shoreline, but Nadine still gets antsy about it around her dad. He's an intense guy, she'll give him that, but it's not the kind that makes one volatile, just _focused_.

Still, they stayed until Nadine said the word, and then they were off again. The silent agreement was Cape Town, only because that's where Sully was for the time being. They've been slowly making their way there, taking multiple days per pit stop at towns and cities. There's been bus rides, the occasional biking, and loads and loads of walking.

Nadine looks like she wants to doze off again, but Chloe's not going to let that happen. They're half a day's trip away from Sully, and she sort of misses scaling spiky rock faces and mucking around disgustingly unhygienic ancient ruins with Nadine's hand gripped in hers.

"Come on, china, rise and shine," she says, patting Nadine's bicep. She tenses at that and, _oh_ , all muscle indeed.

Nadine lets Chloe out from under her arm, eyes trailing after her as Chloe stands and stretches out, butt naked.

"That's a view."

Chuckling, Chloe stoops down to pick up one of the shirts on the ground and slips it on so she can tug the curtains open without flashing the whole street.

When she turns, Nadine's sitting up with a thin blanket draped over her shoulders.

"Morning," Nadine says lightly.

Chloe hums in response, bending a knee over the mattress so she can press a kiss to Nadine's lips.

The calloused pad of Nadine's thumb rubs idly at Chloe's cheek and in return, Chloe weaves her fingers into Nadine's hair.

When they pull away, Chloe has half a mind to take the shirt off again and stay in bed for an entire day more.

"You... need..." Nadine murmurs into Chloe's mouth between kisses, "mouthwash."

Chloe makes a sound of surprise from the back of her throat and squints down at Nadine.

"Thank you," she grumbles after a long beat, straightening up and crossing her arms, "Nadine Ross, a dying romantic through-and-through."

Nadine laughs, bright and delighted. She's fully awake now, and Chloe knows she'll be starting her morning sets soon.

It's warmer now than it was ten minutes ago now that the morning is well underway and the sun is shining in, so she keeps the window open.

She finds Nadine's sports bra underneath the single wooden chair in the corner of the room and throws it at her head. Nadine catches it before it hits her and only looks faintly amused as she puts it on.

As Nadine drags herself out of bed, Chloe cleans herself up in the joint bathroom, using the tiny travel toothpaste Nadine had left on the sink last night.

When she's done, she lets Nadine have her turn, but not before blowing a breath at Nadine. "Minty fresh as requested."

"I'm proud," she replies dryly.

While Nadine does whatever she needs to do, Chloe changes and checks through her notifications. There's one from Sully, to which she replies with a quick update on location and plans, and Nate's sent a picture of his toddler. She doesn't really know what to say except ‘ _Cute_!’, an exclamation mark for good measure.

Nadine's still in the same bra, but this time she has shorts on, and she snakes an arm around Chloe's waist after closing the distance. Years later, Nadine still kisses her with the same fervor as she did the first time.

It's a good feeling, being wanted. She'd always thought she preferred to fly solo most of the time, both with professional matters and ones that were less so. Yet she couldn't imagine doing this again without Nadine covering her side and rattling on about whichever animal they pass.

She cups Nadine's face and backs her into a wall. They make out like that for about five more minutes before Nadine spreads her fingers over Chloe's stomach and nudges her.

Chloe pecks her cheek, her jaw, and then smooths out her shirt, taking a step back.

"Don't get into too much trouble, ja?" Nadine gives her a pointed look.

"Me? I would _never_."

Nadine huffs a laugh and starts her first set of squats, muscles flexing with every move. "I won't bail you out again."

Chloe doesn't point out that Nadine's been arrested once too. Instead, she sticks the keys into the pocket of her jeans and blows a kiss over her shoulder to Nadine.

Nadine smiles at her, fondness almost palpable.

Usually, she'd stick around a little longer to ogle Nadine, but she wants a start on the day; early bird catches the worm and all. The door swings shut behind her as Nadine's curling into her first sit up.

There's a bakery nearby, and Nadine likes the beskuits there, so she weaves around the vendors, following the smell of freshly baked bread.

There’s a short line which only grows longer as she picks out what to buy, fingers skittering over the wooden shelves, impatient.

She's excited to catch up with Sully, to get reacquainted with his long list of contacts. Adventuring doesn't get old like she does and she doubts it ever will, but even then, the moments in between are good too. They have a life together, Nadine and her, a rhythm they've familiarised to over the years, and she wouldn't give it up for the world.

Nadine’s barely broken a sweat by the time Chloe returns, breakfast hanging off her elbow in a plastic bag. Chloe waves a beskuit under Nadine’s nose and smiles when Nadine lets Chloe stick it in her mouth, mid-squat.

“Attractive, truly,” Chloe says, reaching over to flick a crumb off Nadine’s chin.

She laughs, thoroughly endeared, when Nadine winks. She finishes off her squats and scarfs down her breakfast in two bites.

“Come on then, Frazer,” Nadine says, wiping her hands down her shorts and opening her arms.

Pleased, Chloe hums and slings her arms around Nadine’s neck. “Oh, I like where this is going.”

In the afternoon, they'll head off to Cape Town, but right now she can stand to stay just a little longer.

**Author's Note:**

> i lvoe them so fuckign much please i wish i was dead
> 
> lmk if there are any mistakes and also send me constructive criticism 
> 
> my tumblr is @joanwatscn


End file.
